Couple take selfie as they pass Stonehenge stone circle (File | Reuters)
London:
Archaeologists have discovered a wide circle of deep pits surrounding an ancient settlement near Stonehenge, opening up new avenues of inquiry into the origins and significance of the mysterious prehistoric monument.
Among the most recognizable monuments of Great Britain, the standing stones of Stonehenge attract tourists from all over the world as well as people looking for spiritual links with the past. Their exact purpose remains unknown to scientists.
The new discovery, by a team of archaeologists from several universities, shows a large circle of wells of 2 km (1.2 miles) surrounding a colony at Durrington Walls, which also included a henge, or a circular structure, made of poles in wood.
The site is located approximately 3.2 km northeast of Stonehenge and evidence suggests that the pits date back to the same period, approximately 4,500 years ago.
“As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted, Durrington Walls is key to opening the story of the wider landscape of Stonehenge,” said archaeologist Nick Snashall of the National Trust, the body that heads the Stonehenge site.
“This amazing discovery offers us new perspectives on the life and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors,” he said.
The circle of graves is considerably larger than any comparable prehistoric monument in Britain. Researchers have found 20 wells, but estimate there may be more than 30 originally. Each is about 5 meters deep and 10 meters in diameter.
The discovery was made without the need for excavations, using remote sensing and sampling technology.
Archaeologists have stated that the precise and sophisticated way of positioning the pits suggests that the early inhabitants of Britain used a counting or counting system to keep pace over long distances.
“The size of the wells and circuits surrounding the walls of Durrington is unprecedented in the UK,” said Vince Gaffney, professor of archeology at Bradford University and one of the project’s principal investigators.
He said the discovery demonstrated “the ability and desire of the Neolithic communities to record their cosmological belief systems in a way and on a scale that we had never expected before”.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
